ABC News uncovers blocked intelligence bulletin warning of Russian plot against Biden
WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security in July withheld an intelligence bulletin warning of a Russian plot to spread misinformation regarding Joe Biden's mental health, according to internal emails and a draft of the document obtained by ABC News on Wednesday.
In the draft of the bulletin obtained by ABC News titled "Russia Likely to Denigrate Health of U.S. Candidates to Influence 2020 Election," analysts said with "high confidence" that "Russian malign influence actors are likely to continue denigrating presidential candidates through allegations of poor mental or physical health to influence the outcome of the 2020 election."
“High confidence means what it sounds like -- that they are highly confident that their assessment is accurate and they don’t use that language very often,” Elizabeth Neumann, a former assistant secretary of Homeland Security during the Trump administration, told ABC News.
The bulletin was submitted July 7 to the DHS legislative and public affairs office for review and, according to emails obtained by ABC News, was to be distributed to state, federal and local law enforcement, but not to the public, on July 9. Emails also show that DHS Chief of Staff John Gountanis stopped the bulletin from being sent out.
"Please hold on sending this one out until you have a chance to speak to [acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf]," Gountanis wrote, according to an email obtained by ABC News.
A spokesperson for DHS said in a statement Wednesday that while the agency does not comment on leaked documents, "this particular draft product lacked the necessary context and evidence for broader dissemination outside of the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A)."
"After briefing the Acting Secretary and he asked questions, I&A career leadership decided to delay the product for further review," the spokesperson said. "These quality concerns in the work process and tradecraft of I&A were also at issue last month when the Acting Secretary took action to remove I&A leadership."
The spokesperson also said the office of intelligence and analysis is "committed to fulfilling its mission to keep the Homeland safe and secure which included the sharing of three reports on election security in August 2020 with state and local partners."
News of the blocked intelligence bulletin comes nearly two months before the 2020 presidential election and amid concern over Russian interference in the election.
“We are hearing concerns being raised publicly that, in this administration, intelligence community reporting is being modified or blocked for political reasons -- or to not anger the president,” said John Cohen, an ABC News contributor and the former undersecretary for intelligence at DHS under President Barack Obama.
“By blocking information from being released that describes threats facing the nation,” Cohen continued, “it undermines the ability of the public and state and local authorities to work with the federal government to counteract the threat.”
In a statement to ABC News regarding the DHS bulletin, Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh said, “We don’t need or want any foreign interference.”
“There’s no question that the President has been tougher on Russia than any president before him, imposing sanctions and expelling diplomats, in contrast to the Obama-Biden Administration, which choked in the face of Russian interference,” he said. “President Trump will beat Joe Biden fair and square.”
The White House declined to comment.
